So we decided to make our first full day on the island a relaxing one. We started it off by going to a 30 min. orientation to learn what all there was to do at the resort and on the island. We already had a list of ideas from a Hawaii book we had bought, but this gave us a better idea of what were duds and what were "must-sees." After that we went back to our room, sat on the balcony and listed out our weekly plan. We have lots of stuff planned! We actually caved and agreed to sit through a timeshare meeting ONLY because we get 40-50% off our activities just for listening. That means we can do twice as much! Our meeting isn't even planned until the end of the week so we get all these discounts before we even sit through it. Don't know how that works.
We then proceeded to the breakfast buffet! It's normally $25/day/person but it's included in our package! WooHoo! It was awesome! Every breakfast food you could imagine. We wanted to try everything but had to remind ourselves we'll be back every day to try more. Little birds fluttered in and roamed the floors for crumbs and then flew out when fulfilled. The birds are very brave here letting you get extremely close. They also have exotic birds roaming the grounds and we've even seen (and heard) some wild turkeys. As we were laying in bed this morning we heard one gobbling so loud it sounded like it was laughing.
After breakfast we headed to the miniature golf course (also included in our package woo hoo) and played a round. Of course Joe won cause I suck at golf, especially the putting part. Joe-50. Jamie-64. We'll have a rematch at some point this week. On our way there we passed the cutest cat completely knocked out at the pool enjoying his easy life.
I bet he didn't have to pay $60 for that cabana chair.
At this point we couldn't really go anywhere cause we knew our luggage was arriving soon so Joe headed to the fitness room while I started this bloggity blog blog. That's what I like to call it. Our luggage arrived intact so we were able to finally go to the pool! We had checked on all liquids/gels so we didn't have to worry about it with security, but that included our sun tan lotion so we were waiting on that before going in the sun. So we grabbed our fruity umbrella drinks and enjoyed the sun.
And we saw a mongoose scurry by right next to our chairs! I had never seen one but I describe it as a mix between a ferret and a beaver.
We decided to start our first full day with a bang by going to a Luau!
It was held at the Marriott resort next door to the Hilton so we took the scenic route by walking the back way by all the sand trails and beach rocks. We REALLY lucked out with this! First of all we got it half off cause of the timeshare meeting, which we haven't even gone to yet. Because we came in through the back we entered from behind the stage so we walked past everyone to find where we pay. We found a sign-in table but she said they'd come by later with a ticket and to go to the towel check-out stand and someone would seat us. So we go over but there is no one there. The host of the evening saw us wandering around so he decided to seat us - front and center. LITERALLY front and center. We got the best seats in the house even though we were one of the last to arrive and we hadn't even paid yet. It was as if we arrived and they said "You get this for free and we'll give you the best seats. Enjoy." We were seated with a family of 7 and the grandma (who referred to herself as mama) basically made us part of her family instantly. They asked why we didn't have shell necklaces and asked if we had gotten our pictures taken and they pretty much got clueless stares back at them. We had clearly come in the wrong way. So mama said "I'm gonna take care of you, follow me." She showed us where the pictures were being taken and we got our shell necklaces. After getting our fruity drinks we returned to our awesome seats that they saved for us. We got to know the family very well. They own an accounting firm in Oregon and mama's entire family works there. Even the young grandkids do yardwork at their business. After their 3rd kid, they wanted more but couldn't have anymore and wanted to fill up their 7-bedroom house, so Mama's 4th child was adopted by them and he's on his 3rd tour in Afghanistan. Mama and her husband are in the process of taking each of their children and their families to Hawaii, one family per year. They do well.
The food was amazing. I was very happy to not see the pig displayed or else I would have had a hard time eating the meat. After eating we turned our chairs around to watch the show. It was all very entertaining.
Joe even got to go on stage and do a little hula dancing. He's a bit hidden behind the one Hawaiian dancer but he pops out here and there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgUWS37emH8&feature=youtube_gdata
There was also a crazy fire dancer who was pretty amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw4eJ1VORaI&feature=youtube_gdata
The show ended up being really good and we did end up paying by the way. The package of pictures they took of us was $40 which we thought was ridiculous. We decided to go up after the show and see if we could just buy one picture for cheaper. While waiting in line mama comes up behind us and slips Joe a $50! We obviously tried to give it back but she wouldn't take it. So we got our pictures and we tried giving the extra $10 back to her but she just said to have fun. Then she hugged us and said "be happy and follow your dreams." I lost it. All I could do was say thank you, turn away and start crying. There are definitely good people out there.
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